Releasable self-fastening button



M. MENKIN. RELEASABLE-SELF FASTENING BUTTON.

APPLICATION FILED 1111111.16. 1921.

1 ,427, 6 1 4, Patented Aug. 29, 1922.

MAX MENKN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RELEASABLE SELF-FASTEITING BUTTON.

To aZZ whom 25 may concern: y

Be it known that I, MAX MENKIN, a citizen of Russia7 and resident of NewYork, county of New York, lState of Neu7 York, have invented certain newand useful lmprovements in Releasable Self-Fastening Buttons, of whichthe following is a speciiication. w

rlhis invention relates to improvements in releasable self-fasteningbuttons for use in connection with garments, wherein it lis desirable tosecure the buttons to the garment Without the use of thread and in suchmanner that will permit removal of the buttons Whenever desired. y

The general object of the invention is the provision of a constructionconsisting of comparatively few and in expensive parts which aredesigned so as to be readily assembled and secured together withordinary machinery in the manufacture of the button and Which arefurther designed. so as to provide a button adapted for easy `andeffective i attachment to a garment and Which cannot beremovedaccidentally from the garment vWhen arranged thereon in operativeposition.

To these ends the invention resides in providing a cell or chamberWithin the shell constituting the body of a but-ton and adapting aspring arm for insertion into the said cell or chamber so as to besecured there by and' further, in adapting a grooved fastening shank forinsertion into the cell or chamber and interlock with the said springarm. v

Other objects Will appear and be better understood from that embodimentof the invention of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming part thereof and in whichl Figure 1 is a. face viervof the button of this f invention attached`to a `fragment of cloth f Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure 1 butshowing the cloth in section; l

Figure 3 is a detail sectional plan view of the button on the line 3-3of Figure 5;

Figure 4 is a vieu7 similar to Figure 3 but on the line 4-4 of Figure 5;y

Figure 5 is a vertical cross-section approximately on the line 5-5 ofFigure 4 and Figure 6 isa cross-section on the line 6-6 of Figure 4. v

The shell or body A may be formed of any Specification of LettersPatent. 135111361113961 Aug- Application filed March 16, 1921.

serial No. 452,662.

covered With a layer of fabric 7.' `The parts 5 and 6 are also shown ashaving the conventional round or circular contour.

A cell or chamber 8 1s formed Within a shell or body A, one side of thesaid chamberv being provided by the back plate 6 and the opposite sideby the plate 9. For purposes of illustration lf have shown the cell orchamber as being formed with the back plate 6 and the plate 9 as beingsecured in parallel relation with the plate 6 by lugs 10 which are bentinwardly from the outstanding' peripheral flange 11 of the plate 6 anddistanced so as to bear on the plate 9. The plate 9 is herein shown asbeing of metal and is spaced from the back plate 6 for a sufficientdistance to nicely accommodate the spring arm 15 which maintains theplate 9 in proper spaced relation to the back plate 6. The spring arm Bis formed of a length of spring Wire, the end portions 12 and 13 ofwhich are disposed in angular relation to the intermediate portion 14and curved to conform to the contour of the chamber 8. The length of theintermediate portion 14 approximates the diameter of the chamber 8 yandthe end portions 12 and 13 are so disposed With respect to theintermediate por tion 14 that flexure of the said end portions isrequired in order to conform the spring arm for insertion into flangedback plate 6.

Obviously' with this construction` the intermediate portion 14 willextend transversely of the center of theback plate 6 and theintermediate plate 9 and across the aligning openingsl and 16 formed inthe said plates. It will be noted by referring to Figure 5, that theplate 9 by bearing on the spring arm B operates to prevent lateraloutward movement thereof and the outstanding flange 11 operates toconfine the arm within the chamber 8. i

The fastening shank 17 is provided at one end with an enlarged flattenedhead 18 and at its outside end is ground so as to provide a point 19.Between the portions 18 and 19 the said shank Vis roughened by a seriesof peripheral undercuts 2O which constitute a series of grooves, eachgroove-being of a size to receive the intermediate portion 14 of thespring arm 5.

With this construction the shank may be inserted for different distancesinto the shell or body A so as to adapt the button for use with fabricsof various thicknesses.v The openings 15 and 16 conform substantially tothe diameter of the shank 17 so that the insertion of -theshank into theopenings15 and 16 results in the flexing `of the intermediate portion 14by the shank.

It being obvious that as the shank passes through the said openings theroughened surface thereof overrides the intermediate portion 1.4 untilmovement of the shank ceases, whereupon the intermediate portion 14moves into engagement with the groove 2O arranged opposite. thereto; 1tis obvious that ythe intermediate portion 14 is under tension whenV theshank is engagedthere-Y with, so that there is a tendencyon the part ofvthe shankA to tiltv laterally. It will be observed;v therefore, byreferring to Figures B'to 6 that, the approximation in point of sizebetween the shank and the openings 15,

and 16 'is such that the cells .ofthese openings engage the shank whenpressed laterally byy the spring arm B so that perceptible tilting ofthe sh-ankis prevented.

In the use of the device the, fastening shank is inserted through thefabric 21 at a p oint opposite tothe openings .15 and 16 and thenthrough the said openings 15 and 16 and until the back plate of thebutton is.

adjacent to or bears upon the outerface of the fabric. ln this positionofthe parts, the intermediate portion 14 of the.r spring arm B engageswith one of the grooves of the shank 17 and operates to lock the shankagainst outward movement. 1t will be noted that the undercutting whichforms the grooves 2O is suchl that the face of each groove is tapered,ltheslope or taperextending towardthey point or free end'19. rI`hisconstruction provides the equivalent of inclined teeth whichreadilyoverride the springarm B when the` shank is lmoved inwardly into theshell but which operate to interlock with the spring arm and preventoutward movement of the shank away from the shell.

It is to be noted thatthe intermediate portion 14 of the spring arm Btraverses the openings 15 and 16'at one side of the axial center thereofso that when the body ofthe fastener is applied upon the shank 17. thepressure of the conicalend of the shank againstthe portion 14. acts tobow and tension thefsainesothat when the body. member A is releasedftheportion 14of the spring element Vtends to return toits normal conditon.ALs-this portion'of the springQbears only against one isdeo'f the shankat the base of one of the grooves therein, the body memberA will thus beshifted to an eccentric position relative to the shank and the edges ofthe openings 15 and 16 at the opposite side of the shank with respect tothe portion 14 of the spring will be engaged in additional grooves ofthe shank. 1n this mannerthere is obtained a very secure lockingconnection between the body of the button or fastener andthe shankandliability of their disconnection bylongitudinal pull upon the shaftis reduced to a minimum..

The parts vshown in Figures 3 to 6 are exaggerated in size and wouldseem to provide a structure which would positively hold` the shankagainst outward movement'under a relatively heavy pull.. But in practicewhere the parts are smaller than shown an,

outward pull on the head 18 andV especially when the same is engagedwith a gripping tool, will result in the shank operating to force theintermediate portion 14 laterallj.7 and thereby permit the withdrawaloftheV slank. The undersidesof'the teeth or corrugations on the shank 17may be slightly rounded off to allow the teeth to slide past theinter-engaging edges of the yplates 6 andv 9. lf, however, theundersides of the teeth on the shank are made straight as .illustratedin the drawings, the shank 17 maybe withdrawn from the shell of thebutton after first moving the shell against the tension of the springarm B into concentric relationA with the shank 17 andthereby withdrawing the edges of the plates 6 and 9 from the grooves of the shank. Itwill be thus evident that although the shank 17 is releasahle, suchrelease cannot'be e ccidentally eflectedso that when the button is'inuse the engagementbetween the shell and the fastening shank is Asuchthat accidentaldisengagement of the parts is positively prevented.

By the provision of a series of teeth or grooves 20, the button may beyused. with cloth or fabric of various thicknesses in that whererelatively thick cloth is employed 'the outer grooves or teeth will berengaged, whereas with relatively thin cloth, the inner 'grooves or teethwill be engaged as shown in Figures 5 and 6.

The parts 5 and 6 ofthe shell or body are preferably stamped from sheet'metal into the shape shown. This is an ordinary procedure in themanufacture of buttons, theparts being so proportioned wth respect toeach other that they readily interfit when forced one into the other bya suitable brace and when so engaged they are frictionally heldtogether. 1n th'elsame instancev it might be desirable tov roll theledge of the part 5 around the edge of the back plate 6. Suchconstruction, however, would be obtainable with the manufacture. Thespring armB may be bent into Seshaped form' as shown,

With a suitable die and inserted into the part 6 prior to assembling thesame with the part 5, after which the intermediate plate 9 is disposedupon the spring arm B and the lugs l0 bent over the outer face ot theplate as shown. The placing of cloth is generally applied in theordinary manner if its presence With the button is desired.

Although I have shown and described an ideal embodiment yof myinvention, it is to be understood that I amnot to be limited to thedetails of structure and arrangement of the parts therein shown, itbeing obvious that many minor mechanical changes may be f made Withinthc scope claimed Without departing trom the spirit or sacrificing anyof the advantages of the invention.

I claim:

l. A separable fastener comprising a body having a back'fyvall providedWith a central opening7 the edge of Which is arranged in the plane ofthe body of the back Wall, a resilient element carried by said body andhaving a part traversing said kopening at one side of its axial centerline, and a shank provided with a plurality of annular groovessubstantially equal in Width to the thickness or" said Wall, saidgrooves being adapted to receive the edges of said Wall, and said shankbeing adapted to be projected through said opening' to coact With saidpart of the resilient element and placesaid element under tensionwhereby upon the release of the body, said element in returning to itsnormal condition acts to shift the body to an eccentric positionrelative to the shank and engage the edge of the opening in said backWall in a groove in the shank to thereby lock the parts of the fastenertogether.

2. A separable fastener comprising a body provided With spaced Wallsforming a chamber and each of said Walls having a censure of saidelement against'one side of said shank acts to position the bodyrelative to said shank and engage the edges of said openings in thechamber Walls with they grooves of the shank.

3. A separable fastener comprising a body having a back consisting ofspaced Walls forming a chamber and each of said Walls provided With acentrally located opening, a generally Z-shaped spring arm serving tomaintain said Walls in spaced relation and having its end portionsgrooved and bearingagainst the marginal Wall of said charnber and anintermediate portion traversing said openings at one side of their axialcenter line, and a shank adapted to rbe projected through said openings,said shank having a conical end ortion to engage the intermediateportion of the spring arm and a plurality of grooves in one of whichsaid portion of the spring arm engages on one side of the shank, saidspringarm acting against the shank upon release of the fastener body toeccentrically position said body relative to the shank and engage theedges of said openings at the opposite side of the shank in additionalgrooves of the shank to thereby lock the parts of thel fastener ends.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, and I havesigned my name hereunto.

MAX MENKIN.

